SOURCE WEBSITES

How to draw GNARLY

By Linda Farmer, CZT ~ October 22nd, 2014

Oh boy, I love love LOVE this tangle!

Gnarly is another great tangle pattern from California tangler Barbara Finwall. Barbara has contributed several very popular tangles, Zonked being the most recent. She’s also contributed many strings all of which you can find by putting her name in the search box at the top right of any page.

Barbara explains her tangle’s name:

“In my youth I had a surfer boyfriend who used the term ‘Gnarly’ for everything from great waves to great dinners. This curl pattern reminds me of a gnarly wave.“

Gnarly is … well, gnarly!

Those of you who are tole or decorative painters will recognize the basic crescent, comma and teardrop brush strokes contained in Gnarly. Here’s a fun way to use them in a Zentangle with pen and ink. This tangle also looks really good if you don’t fill in all the shapes with solid color, but once I got going it was hard to stop. Very flexible and a lovely addition to any Zentangle®.

Barbara illustrates the step-by-step instructions for drawing Gnarly below and features it in a beautiful Zentangle.

Image copyright the artist and used with permission, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. You may use this image for your personal non-commercial reference only. Republishing or redistributing pattern deconstructions in any form is prohibited under law without express permission of the copyright owner. For more information, click on the image for the article “Copyrights and your blog.”

Check out the tag barbaraf for more of Barbara’s tangles on TanglePatterns.com.

Related Links

Linda's List of Zentangle-Original Patterns — here is the complete list of original tangles (aka "official tangles") created and introduced by founders Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas, including those not published online. If you are new to the Zentangle Method I highly recommend learning a few of the published Zentangle classics first.

Enhance your Zentangle experience ...

NEW! TanglePatterns.com TANGLE GUIDE, 2019 Edition

The newest and 8th Edition of my TanglePatterns.com TANGLE GUIDE. This instant-download 72-page (40 MB) interactive digital eBook contains all the tangles on the site from May 2010 through December 31, 2018. Containing over 1,000 tangles, it's a must-have tool for using the site.

"Linda, Thank you! I was relying on too few and getting stuck after 3 years of daily working with Zentangle. This has inspired me to ‘begin again’ with renewed excitement." ~ Barbara R.

See the BOOK REVIEWS page for more details on its features and view a sample page.

Visit the STORE > E-BOOKS page for more information and support TanglePatterns.com by getting your copy now!

NOW AVAILABLE IN SOFTCOVER: This is the only Zentangle book you'll ever need: the fabulous Zentangle PRIMER Vol 1. It's your CZT-in-a-book by the founders of Zentangle®! Visit the STORE tab on the top menu bar or click on the image. For more about the content and to read the rave reviews, visit the BOOK REVIEWS tab.

"Absolutely the best Zentangle Book yet! As an accomplished artist I used to think I did not need instruction on this art form. How wrong I was! My tangling improved by leaps and bounds after reading this book. If you think you have Zentangle down then you need this book more than ever!" ~ Kris H

Another great jump-starter for new tanglers is the original Official Zentangle Kit. The Kit includes all the supplies you'll need to get started properly: Sakura Micron Pens, Zentangle Tiles, pencil, sharpener, tortillion, a booklet and an instructional DVD by co-founder Maria Thomas. Click on the image for more information about the Kit and its contents.

I especially like this tangle of yours, Barbara! I so relate to calling neat things gnarly, as well (turned 70 this year!). I’ve in the past had problems drawing flowing lines as in scrolls and such, much preferred the straight lines and geometric type tangles – but perhaps trying this one out, over and over, will loosen up my ‘flow’ – haha – Thanks!

I also like the fact that in tangles there are so many different ones from all kinds of people with talent! Makes it fun to share with others and hear their comments, etc.

TanglePatterns depends on support from its users to remain online. If you find value in this unique Zentangle® resource, please help make sure it continues to be available. Your support really matters and you have my deepest gratitude for your help. xo